Monday, December 04, 2006

will I call it quits - a travelogue

...you must be kiddin'

This is the time when the core reality knocks the door of the farce world. The imminent is what that holds the truth. It is not what you think is right, but it is what the life makes you realize on every turn.

nayy, I am not upto writing some philosophical finding that I dug over the weekend, but to try putting down my first-hand experience with death. I'm just kiddin'. I went to the waterfall rappelling trip last weekend to Malshez (in Thane distt.) with a bunch of over-zealot guys. It was one of the best (adventurous) experiences I have ever had. It's something that 's difficult to put in words, but even more difficult to experience first-hand.

We started-off from Pune on late Friday evening; it's a drive of around 3 hours from Pune. With no idea what to expect for next two days, we were shouting our lungs out to the music that no one had a particular interest in. With the parody to one and dumb-charade to other, the moment put us all in high spirit. An extra tinge was added by a late night drinking spree at Malshet. With all the high energy and a nice sleep under the moon lit sky, we were all set to take on the next day.

The day started earlier than usual with the Dhumketu (a professional group that organizes adventure sports and outings) guys shouting over our heads to get-up and get ready for early excitement. Alright, it was time for some earl morning lecture and we were told not to smoke, litter plastic and drink - what! didn't see that coming. Hell!! what will happen to the SmirnOff that's waiting from quite some time for me to twist its neck? Well, that's left to be seen. After a small trek and a handshake with the rising sun, we reached the place where we would make our first decent. Fuck! a 400 feet drop.

Well! I guess, just because so many guys were waiting to take the plunge make others (and me) feel that everything is gonna be just fine. Furthermore, a little of excitement was making sure that I don't run away ;o) I'm sure, in any case, I wouldn't have. So, here I'm, standing on the edge of the cliff, hanging with a bare 1/2 inch rope, and nothing else to support. I took a quick look down-fuck! it's gonna be a long-long journey. It started off pretty well, with me bouncing off the wall, making sure I don't break the rope. For a moment it felt good, and then there was an overhang - nothing to support me, but air. Was it my head that was spinning, or me? I have no clue, as I was trying my level hard to reach to the bottom of the cliff. A brush of water from the fall shook my senses, and I somehow reached the bottom. Hell! that was some experience.

Was I afraid, No! But there was nothing much I could do to convince myself that I wasn't. I guess, it was just the heart and head fighting over some trivial issue. Yeah! right.The fact that no one was doing any better, gave me confidence and the new motto that "everyone falls the first time".

Now, it was time for the Flying-Fox (or firefox). It was to cross the trench across, hanging down the rope. By this time I was a little confident that I can do it and I just jumped over cliff and crossed it in time. Some hope for life. This was the end of the adventure for Day-1 and how can it culminate without getting drenched under a waterfall? So, here we were, without giving a second thought to people around, jumped into the pool. The night came in quite early, and again, we were all sitting across the fire and singing our lungs out. It was quite an experience sleeping next to the waterfall, with nothing but stars looking down on us.

The next day had 3 descents in the bag. Two 250 feet drops and a 90 feet drop. Those went pretty well and the whole show culminated with a plunge in the pool. And, here, we got a chance to celebrate it fully with the Vodka shots in the middle of the pool. Can't just let that go. A 5KM trek and we reached the place where we had to end our journey. Smiles, stories, jokes, and, yes, songs took the front seat again. 3 hours of the music show ended at Pune with nice memories and goodbyes.